Mathew Barzal has goal and 3 assists, Islanders outlast Hurricanes 5-4 in OT

Dec 1, 2023, 04:09 am

RALEIGH, N.C. -- — Mathew Barzal scored at 2:46 of overtime to lift the New York Islanders past Carolina, 5-4 on Thursday night after the Hurricanes’ Sebastian Aho tied it with 2.5 seconds left in regulation.

Barzal added three assists and Semyon Varlamov stopped 39 shots to help the Islanders win for the fourth time in six games.

Kyle Palmieri, Pierre Engvall, Bo Horvat and Simon Holmstrom also scored for New York.

A loss Tuesday night loss to New Jersey didn’t sit well with the Islanders, coach Lane Lambert said. New York led 4-2 in the third period and allowed New Jersey to score the winner with 23 seconds left.

“We needed to bounce back,” Lambert said. “I thought the last eight minutes, we played pretty darn good. It was a darn shame that the puck went in at the end (of regulation) but Varlamov was outstanding and it was nice to get rewarded.”

The Islanders had lost four games in overtime this season without a win before breaking through on Thursday.

“It was nice to get the monkey off our back as a group,” Barzal said. “We were trying not to clock watch, with what’s been going on. We found a way to get back on the horse.”

Aho scored with goalie Pyotr Kochetkov off for an extra skater, beating Varlamov and the clock.

“You’re leading 4-3 and you give up a goal like that and you don’t want to lose the game,” Varlamov said. “You lose the game and everybody’s miserable, right? We wanted to make sure we got a ‘W.’ It’s a great feeling.”

Jalen Chatfield, Jordan Staal and Jack Drury added goals for Carolina. Kochetkov made 11 saves.

Palmieri beat Kochetkov with a backhander on a power play at 6:41 in the third period to break a 3-3 tie. A delay-of-game penalty on Staal gave the Islanders the power play.

The Islanders didn’t have a shot attempt for the first 12 minutes of the second period, and only 10 shots on goal in the first 40 minutes, but still managed to take a 3-2 lead into the third period.

Engvall skated past Jesperi Kotkaniemi from the right boards to the slot and knuckled a low shot between Kochetkov’s pads to give New York a 3-2 lead with 1:57 left in the second.

UP NEXT

Islanders: At Florida on Saturday.

Hurricanes: Host Buffalo on Saturday night.

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